𐌲𐌰𐌶𐌳𐍃

Forms

𐌲𐌰𐌶𐌳𐍃 (gazds), a masculine a-stem noun.^[1][2][3][4] Only the nominative singular 𐌲𐌰𐌶𐌳𐍃 (gazds) is recorded.^[2][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz (“goad, spike”),^[6][7] cognate with Old Norse gaddr (“goad, spike”), Old Saxon gard (“rod”) and Old High German gart (“prickle”).^[7][8] A West Germanic derivative meaning "rod" lies behind Old English gierd, Old Frisian ierde, gerdia and gerta, according to Casaretto and Lehmann;^[4][9] Uhlenbeck, following Cosijn, held that the Old High German word had an original r and was not related.^[10] Kroonen considers the word shared by Germanic and Celtic alone: Old Irish gat (“withe, osier”) is formally identical, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰazdʰ-o-, while Latin hasta (“spear-shaft, lance”) and gas (“sprig, shoot”) point to a variant with a voiceless dental.^[7][8] Lehmann concludes that the word is found only in Italic, Celtic and Germanic, so that a Proto-Indo-European word for "rod" is without basis.^[9] He also cites Szemerényi, who reconstructed *ghozdhos with reference to an Umbrian word for "armed with a spear".^[9] Feist rules out Proto-Slavic *gvozdь (“nail”) as either a cognate or a loan from Germanic because of its initial consonant cluster, whereas Grienberger thought the Slavic word probably borrowed from Germanic.^[11][5][8]

Attestation

The word occurs only in 1 Corinthians 15:55 and 15:56, each verse preserved in manuscripts A and B: four tokens in the Wulfila project's count, two records in Köbler's.^[12][2] It renders Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), and Köbler gives Latin stimulus as the Latin equivalent.^[2] PROIEL aligns one of its two tokens with κέντρον and the other with νῖκος (nîkos).^[13] 1 Corinthians 15:55 reads ƕar ist gazds þeins dauþu, "where is your sting, death?"^[14]

Meanings

1. a sting, goad (for κέντρον)^[3][1][2]

Usage notes

Wiktionary describes the sense more cautiously, as a sharp pointed object, possibly a sting, goad or spike.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. gazds
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gazds
3. ^ a b Regan, Brian T. (1974), Dictionary of the Biblical Gothic Language, Phoenix: Wulfila House, p. 72
4. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
5. ^ a b Grienberger, Theodor von (1900), Untersuchungen zur gotischen Wortkunde, Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, phil.-hist. Classe 142, Wien, p. s.v. gazds
6. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐌲𐌰𐌶𐌳𐍃
7. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 172
8. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒazđaz
9. ^ a b c Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. gazds
10. ^ Uhlenbeck, C. C. (1900), Kurzgefasstes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Müller, p. 64
11. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. gazds
12. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
13. ^ Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
14. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. 1Cor 15:55